1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an air intake structure and a fuel cell vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some conventional FF-type fuel cell vehicles have a structure in which a fuel cell is installed in a vehicle motor room (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-370544). In the fuel cell vehicle, a motor and a voltage control unit along with the fuel cell are disposed in the same motor room. The motor room corresponds to an engine room of a general gasoline engine vehicle, and a drive motor is disposed in the motor room. An air intake structure for taking in air is provided in the motor room of the fuel cell vehicle. This is because the fuel cell vehicle also requires air (oxygen) to generate electricity in the fuel cell.
It is desirable that the air intake structure of the fuel cell vehicle takes in air that is not so hot. The reason is that hot intake air promotes dryness within the fuel cell, degrading power generation performance. However, a radiator is provided on the front side of the motor room, and air in the motor room is heated (to, for example, 90° C.). For this reason, the air inlet port of the air intake structure is desirably provided in the front portion (in the rear of a radiator grill and in front of the radiator) of the vehicle. However, when the air inlet port is provided in the front portion of the vehicle, at flood or rainfall, water (including snow) is likely to enter the air intake structure. As a countermeasure, a large-capacity air cleaner case is provided downstream of the air intake structure to separate water having entered therein.